I Love You More than There are Snowflakes in Winter
by ChemicallyEnhanced
Summary: Dedicated to Takano Masamune and his very special day.


…I wish I wrote for Ritsu's birthday BUT FUCK I WAS ON VACATION WITH NO INTERNET.

* * *

Honestly, Masamune never paid much attention to his birthday.

It was only a few days before that Yokozawa had texted him—texted him, because his old friend had other responsibilities now and didn't need to look after him as much anymore—if he wanted anything for the 'day his sorry ass was born into the world/that day before any and all public places went to hell.'

 _Oh_ , he thought, numb fingers tapping away amidst the clattering and banging of the train as he headed home, shivering from the cold.

[To Yokozawa T]:

 _My answer is still the same as every other year._ (22.34)

[From Yokozawa T]:

 _Like I could afford any of that._ (22.34)

Masamune huffed out a tiny chuckle. He could literally hear his friend's distasteful scoff through the text.

[To Yokozawa T]:

 _Well, whatever you can afford, just give it to me and I'll pretend to be pleasantly surprised._ (22.35)

[From Yokozawa T]:

 _Noted._ (22.35)

With a small _hmm,_ Masamune was just about to pocket his cell phone before he opened up a new message and…hesitated over the keys to type a certain someone's name. There was no need to, though, was there? Lately, they'd been better: fewer arguments and misunderstandings, and he was truly happy and content, more than he'd ever felt in his entire life. Just last week, they'd grabbed some tea from the nearby convenience store and hung around in his apartment before they remembered _Oh yes, monthly crunch was underway and they needed to work._ But still. It was nice, that half hour to themselves.

They were tipping on the edge of…something, Masamune knew it, and it wouldn't take more than an appropriately-timed word or action to push both of them over into more solid territory.

He tch'ed and swiftly typed out a greeting, wondering when the hell his thoughts grew so introspective.

[To Onodera R]:

 _Are you still awake?_ (22.38)

[From Onodera R]:

 _Yes. Are you coming over tonight?_ (22.40)

[To Onodera R]:

 _Christmas season crunch, of course I have to._ (22.40)

[From Onodera R]:

 _Okay then._ (22.41)

[To Onodera R]:

… _It's my birthday in three days._ (22.43)

[From Onodera R]:

 _Takano, if you're standing outside my apartment, then you don't need to text me._ (22.45)

Masamune breathed out a laugh as one baleful green eye peeked out at him from behind the sanctity of the door.

"Gonna let me in?" He said and kicked at the door, smirking, like he always did.

There was a sigh then a widening of the entrance and a sarcastic bow as he walked in and slipped his shoes off.

"But of course, I can't keep a king from his castle." Ritsu rolled his eyes and followed Masamune in, already setting up some coffee for another hour or so of cracking down and maybe finally finishing the last edit of the year.

Thank _god._ Masamune loved his job, he really did; but the end of the year deadline was always the worst, no matter how many years he'd been in this editing business.

He sat across from Ritsu with a pleased sigh and took a long gulp of his drink before uncapping his pen. The next hour was punctuated by a few comments about timing or misspelled kanji and maybe a quip or two about their bosses and higher-ups and how insane they must be to make them work so hard right before the holidays; but otherwise, it was silent save for the scribbling of pens and the sound of cups being set down on the table. Finally, at around _00.05_ in the morning, Ritsu leaned back against his sofa and re-checked everything on the storyboard.

"You're absolutely sure about that one line on page 17?" Masamune asked, glancing up at him over the rim of his glasses with a critical stare.

"Mhm. It adds a bit of a refreshing feel to the overall story, and I think readers will be more open to that. Considering the story is…rather predictable," Ritsu admitted, replacing the cap on his red pen with a quirk at the corner of his lip.

 _So proud of him. He's come so far._

"Well, fine." Masamune set his own work down and cracked his back, rubbing his tired eyes under his glasses with a quiet groan.

"What time is it?"

Hell, Masamune didn't know. He was literally about to fall asleep slumped over the table.

Wincing as the artificial light of his cell phone illuminated his worn face, he muttered, " _00.10_ , December 22nd. Just a few more days…"

[From Yokozawa T]:

 _Don't forget to sleep. Idiot._ (22.36)

Whoops. He scrolled up idly through their past conversation, stopping when _oh yeah, it's my birthday in 3—no 2 days and…_

"It's my birthday in 2 days," Masamune said casually, leaning back against a hand and resting his other arm on his knee. God, he really craved a smoke right about now, but Ritsu didn't like the smell too much.

"Mm," Ritsu murmured in acknowledgment, but gave no other sign of comprehension as he squinted across the table like he was having trouble keeping his eyes open. "I know."

"Don't forget like last year." Maybe if he tried really hard to pretend there was a cigarette between his fingers…

But Ritsu was already out cold, half on the edge of his sofa and half on the floor, shirt riding up and hair a mess, and Masamune could only shake his head in disapproval—"what if there happened to be a pervert in your apartment and you were just lying here defenseless (not that I'm the pervert)?"—and set Ritsu in bed, hesitating again as he lifted the corner of the covers up to let himself in—he hadn't exactly been invited to stay over. Buuuut, Ritsu needed him, in case he got robbed or something, and next door was too far of a distance.

With that reasoning in mind, Masamune slid into bed and cuddled up behind Ritsu, vaguely thinking in the back of his sleep-deprived mind that Ritsu didn't remember it was his birthday in 2 days, despite celebrating it last year.

* * *

Ritsu was subtly avoiding him.

Well, it wasn't blatantly obvious by any means, but Masamune had been around the junior editor long enough that he could spot the very faint signs of a Ritsu trying his hardest not to be alone with him or possibly be wheedled into a situation that was out of his control.

It started with fewer texts, and even the texts that Masamune got from him were sort of…cagey, like Ritsu was hiding something he didn't want to reveal. Most of their texts dwindled down to just about work, and Ritsu didn't openly invite him to his apartment after _they both left work at the same time._ If that wasn't evident of Ritsu suddenly reverting back to a year ago, then Masamune didn't know whether he was being too clingy.

Not as if he wasn't always clingy to Ritsu, anyways.

"Oi, Onodera," he called out when he saw his subordinate idling around in the break room, lying halfway on the sofa late afternoon on the 23rd. Masamune waved a stack of papers in the air to get his attention and flicked the other's forehead when he didn't answer.

"Ow!" Ritsu sat up, frowning and rubbing at the red skin there. "What is it?"

Masamune noticed that he edged slightly farther away on the sofa, sitting properly like the gentleman that he was raised to be but never was in front of his fucking boss. He tried to ignore the anxiety that pinched his chest as he breathed out through his nose. "I'm going to get dinner in an hour. Any requests?"

Ritsu shuffled, almost like he was nervous. "Er, no. Anything is fine."

"Alri—"

"Actually…Takano-san," _–san_ "if it's okay with you, I'll have to skip out today. My mother invited me to eat with her and my father tonight. S-sorry." What a fucking lie. He gave an awkward, lopsided smile that looked like it was supposed to be apologetic but only looked slightly anxious instead.

Well, then. Masamune reined in the sudden wave of hurt that flushed through him. "Really…you haven't mentioned anything about that lately, though."

"A-ah, yeah…" Ritsu rubbed the back of his head, still smiling that same nervous smile. "She talked about it briefly a few months ago and I guess I just forgot until now. I have such a bad memory, haha."

"Is that so…" Unimpressed, Masamune only clicked his tongue and turned on his heel, leaving the room. "Well, okay."

Masamune spent the night alone in his apartment, picking at his food and trying to ignore the way his heart burned in his chest.

* * *

Like always, Masamune didn't let his inner misery show on his face the next day, and he kept pretending that he didn't often glance over in Ritsu's direction, wondering what the hell made him act so weirdly that he felt he had to lie. Jeez. If he didn't want to hang out with Masamune, then he just had to say so, instead of so obviously lying about it that even a primary school student could tell.

He was so tempted to corner Ritsu and demand what was wrong, but he knew from past experience that that would only make the other male shrink more on himself and the answers that Masamune wanted would never see the light of day. Was it another family emergency that Ritsu couldn't tell him? Was it his own doubts and insecurities rising up within him again—because, Masamune had to admit, Ritsu used to have a lot of them before he swept them all away with his comfort? Was it possible that he was suddenly…seeing someone else?

That last one seemed so outlandish, yet Masamune couldn't dismiss it just yet. There was still the slightest possibility—more like 0.0001%, considering how close they'd gotten in the past year—that Ritsu had found another more sensitive and kind lover than Masamune himself. Ugh, wait, don't think about that. Whatever it was, Ritsu would probably tell him what was wrong sooner or later, since today _was_ his birthday, anyhow.

Speaking of…

Masamune had to keep himself from snickering when he saw the gift that Yokozawa had given him. A bottle of flavored lube ('Er, Ze—I heard from…someone that it was good'), some condoms (XXS as a joke, what the hell), and something his friend had told him 'would make Ritsu jump all over him'…once he figured out what it was first, of course. Fucking hell. His friend was such a closet pervert. For a moment, Masamune wondered if Kirishima knew this very interesting factoid.

Definitely.

He startled when he heard his personal phone—not that clunky company phoned stationed at his desk—chime with a small noise.

[From Onodera R]:

 _Please meet me tonight at the place where lingering doubts were cleared and the world was set in front of us at 19.30._ (14.17)

What the actual hell. What did he me—oh.

[To Onodera R]:

 _No personal texting during work (though I suppose I could make an exception just for you)._

 _Do you mean the place I took you last year with the view and when we had sex in my car?_ (14.18)

[From Onodera R]:

 _I feel so special._

… _I wouldn't put it so lewdly, but yes._

 _Is that a yes?_ (14.20)

[To Onodera R]:

 _Affirmative. 19.30 tonight._ (14.20)

It was hard to hide his giddy smile afterwards, but he managed.

* * *

Yes, he was half an hour early, but who could blame him? He didn't think his Ritsu—well, not _his_ , but most likely after tonight—could be so romantic, inviting Masamune to where the first shift in their relationship had occurred. He blew into his icy cold hands, wriggling his fingers to try to get some feeling back into them, and waited against the railing for _the sun in his cloudy life, the rain that his parched life needed, the—_

 _Oh, he was here._

Masamune cleared his throat and tried to look as unaffected as possible—when really, he was thrumming with excitement to see how this night would turn out. He turned just as Ritsu stepped next to him, and he definitely wasn't smiling adoringly at him, nope. That shit was only in cheesy shoujo manga, which…he'd been editing for years and was probably under the influence of. Yep.

"So what'd you call me out here for?" Masamune asked, keeping his voice level but lilting at the end to show he was genuinely curious—and excited, but he wouldn't tell anyone that.

Ritsu clenched his hands over the railing and stared out at the world for a few moments before he answered, cheeks and nose already pink from the cold. "What else for?"

"I don't know, possibly to murder me and bury my body at the place I told you I've been loving you for ten years?" He rolled his eyes, wanting to lighten the atmosphere just a bit in case Ritsu was too nervous to say his true reason.

"If I wanted to do that, I would've done it in a much more secret location," Ritsu retorted back, shoulders and features relaxing more, even as he blushed a little at the last part.

"Like where?"

"Like…behind our apartment building. There's basically nothing there. Nobody would notice."

"Agh, I'm wounded. I thought I could trust you with my life." Masamune snickered, and suddenly he wanted to kiss Ritsu so very badly.

"Yes, of course. Your body is still technically 'life'. You didn't specify," Ritsu pointed out, grinning triumphantly.

God, Masamune was so gay. "Hai, hai. Fine."

"Good."

They enjoyed some more minutes in silence, just taking in each other's company and the understanding that there was something so innately special between them that they just didn't want to admit, for fear of ruining the dynamic they had now.

Masamune broke the comfortable silence. "So you didn't really answer my question."

"A-ahah, you caught me," Ritsu said, smiling nervously, and Masamune took a few steps closer, turning to face him completely. "I j-just wanted to give you your present here."

"Ah, so you did remember it was my birthday," Masamune replied back in a quieter voice than normal, heart beating a tattoo against his ribs and hands shaking just slightly.

"Tch, of course. How could I not?" _Bathump bathump bathump bathump._ "A-anyways…" Ritsu turned to face him as well and jumped a little when he saw how close he was. "I just…" Those mesmerizing eyes that Masamune loved so much widened, and Ritsu's hands were trembling as they reached up to cup his face.

It was so warm everywhere, even as they were standing out in the cold, bitter snow.

"I just…" Ritsu breathed out, leaning forward and bringing Masamune's face down to his in a kiss.

Masamune covered Ritsu's hands with his own, and he felt like he was absolutely burning. His lips were burning where Ritsu's were pressing, his hands were burning, everything was so, so warm, and he felt he could just melt in it forever.

Slowly, Ritsu pulled back, just enough so that he could whisper, in a voice as soft as the clouds and filled with so much love, "Happy birthday, Takano Masamune."

* * *

A/N: This was very nice.

-ChemicallyEnhanced


End file.
